


Theme

by MajesticAnna



Series: Dancing Through Life [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claudeleth week 2020, Dancing, Day 3: Royals/Dancing, Fluff, Garreg Mach Ball (Fire Emblem), Goddess Tower (Fire Emblem)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25426006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajesticAnna/pseuds/MajesticAnna
Summary: “C’mon, Teach. Don’t leave me hanging.” Claude’s suave words almost make Byleth laugh, if she did that kind of thing. “I don’t want to dance alone.”+++The first dance.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Dancing Through Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841665
Comments: 16
Kudos: 62
Collections: Claudeleth Week 2020





	Theme

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collab project I did with a lovely group of people: [Tish](https://twitter.com/tishtish4), [Ray](https://twitter.com/tzubakis), and [Jullika](https://twitter.com/jullika08)! Tish made art to pair with my fic which I will link when it's up!
> 
> [Ray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doylesmom/pseuds/doylesmom) will be releasing the companion piece to this fic later today, so look forward to it!

“Please stop making out in the halls.”

Byleth stares at the offending students, leveling her cool eyes at their flushed appearances. She’s mastered the blank, disapproving stare that teachers use to chastise their students, and though she doesn’t particularly care about the activities of her pupils, she does find it hilarious as the students shuffle away and promise not to practice public indecency under the eyes of the goddess.

Byleth sighs. She’s not much physically older than her students, but sometimes, she feels the weight of thousands of years resting on her shoulders. Rhea’s insistence on propriety makes Byleth feel awkward and old when she has to reprimand her students.

Now that her duties for the current moment are done, Byleth walks to the main hall, where the ball is being held. At least the dress code is just their normal day wear. Byleth is sure she’d feel stiff in any dress Manuela shoved her into, and anyways, she is most comfortable in her mercenary clothes. For tonight, she’s cleaned up a bit, adding a pair of silver earrings to her attire, and making sure her pair of tights didn’t have threads falling out of their hem. 

Under the tall arches of the doorway, Byleth walks into the ballroom. For some reason, she feels a calculating sea of eyes staring at her. But when she looks over, no gazes meet hers. Some people look shifty, but nothing more than typical teenage awkwardness. 

Rubbing her hands on her tights, Byleth breathes in and out. Even in the comfort of her own clothes, she still feels like she’s been shoved into a theatre where she has no intention of taking centerstage. She may be paranoid, she knows. Yet, her instincts have never been wrong before.

A few minutes pass, as the students prepare for the first dance. The presentation of the royals should begin soon. Dimitri and Edelgard are already standing at the front, several feet apart, ready to begin their dances with their partners. 

The distance between them… Byleth doesn’t understand it, yet it sparks a glimmer of her curiosity in her empty mind. She’s not going to meddle, but she does sense the distance is not just physical.

Sometimes, Byleth wishes they did more interhouse communication. She doesn’t know all the intricacies of Fódlan politics, the sway of allegiances and enemies, although she believes the Officer Academy would be a good start in fostering good relations for the next generation. Unfortunately, she only knows things from her perspective, from her Golden Deer students. If she could somehow bond with the other houses… it could prevent any tensions from overflowing.

Maybe in another lifetime, she could understand more of the story. 

Music trickles into the room, and Byleth blinks back into awareness. The first dance started while she stared off into space. It’s amazing Sothis didn’t reprimand her to pay attention, but maybe she’s too focused on watching the dances through Byleth’s eyes.

The first dance is as magical as it was implied. Edelgard and Dimitri each dance with their partners, the picture of elegant grace. It is evident their backgrounds have taught them the steps to these waltzes. With years spent learning the language of movement, their royal teachers must have shed tears over their beautiful skills.

Suddenly, a shiver passes through her spine. Byleth won’t have to do these refined dances… right? She’s practiced a few times with Jeralt and Manuela, but nowhere near enough to be ready to dance in front of all her students.  
  
The only kind of dancing she truly knows is getting plastered and gyrating her body in the middle of a crowded tavern.

A movement out of the corner of her eye catches Byleth’s attention. She moves her head to the right to take a closer look; Claude laughs and winks at her from across the room. He steps through the crowd effortlessly, and before she knows it, he’s offered a hand in question to her.

Byleth blinks. Oh. That’s right. Even though Claude is a noble, he’s not exactly of the same status as the two others. He would join the dance after them, and if he doesn’t have a partner...

“C’mon, Teach. Don’t leave me hanging.” Claude’s suave words almost make Byleth laugh, if she did that kind of thing. “I don’t want to dance alone.”

There’s some hesitation there, in the corner of his eyes, a hint of uncertainty, but it’s gone before Byleth can fully understand it. She pushes down any sense of her own hesitation and nods, taking his hand.

Claude smiles, and smoothly leads her to the dance floor. He carefully places his hand on her back, and continues to hold onto her other in a lifted carriage. Byleth moves her own hand to his shoulder, and waits.

Then, Claude leads them through a graceful dance, of speaking through steps, and Byleth loses herself in the swaying of her feet in a delicate conversation. The playful music and Claude’s confidence guide her through any anxieties, simply enjoying the moment of lyrical bliss.

“Wow, Teach, have you danced before?” Claude asks, mouth turned upwards in a smirk. “Either I’m a stupendous leader or you’ve had practice.”

“Only a bit,” Byleth says. “Manuela dragged me around the monastery in the past week, demanding me not to make a fool of myself. But... “ She shrugs. “I guess it’s easy to follow you.”

“You’re going to make me blush,” Claude says. He whisks Byleth into a turn, and they keep pace with each other. “To be honest, I have little experience with this kind of dancing. Parties were a little different where I grew up, less refined.”

Byleth lifts an eyebrow, but says nothing in question about her past. Claude occasionally brings up his past, but he’s still an enigma for Byleth to understand. He hides so much under his smiles and light gestures, a story he wishes to protect from the world. It’s better to wait for him to explain on his own, Byleth thinks, so that he feels ready when he finally tells her.

Claude seems to be waiting for her, so she says: “I’m used to tavern and local dances, so this is new for me.”

Claude laughs, full and robust. “I knew you felt the same. We don’t exactly fit in here, but we make a killer pair. We hide our truths and yet still blend in, and you especially, attract the attention of others.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you really blind to your charms?” Claude snickers. “I can feel the death glares shot my way as we dance.”

Byleth looks around. She doesn’t spot anyone with evil intent. “I think you’re mistaken.”

Claude sighs. He spins Byleth around, and into a dip. She feels light, like her feet are barely touching the floor. “Ah, to be so clueless of the way people look at you. It only adds to your allure.”

Before she knows it, the dance draws to a close, the music petering away in farewell. Claude spins her one last time, before stopping his careful steps. 

Byleth almost wants the dance to go on longer. She says, “My allure? At least I’m not a shameless flirt like you.”

“Oh?” Claude tilts his head, in mock thought. “Maybe you’re special, Teach, since I only act this way with you.”

His eyes glimmer with mischief. Byleth prepares to counter, but a student cuts in, asking her for a dance. Claude smirks as if to say “see?”. He leaves her grasp, bows with a bit of bounce in his step, and walks away.

She wants to know more, to hear more from him. But for now, she continues to dance beneath the lights of the ballroom with a different partner.

+++

As the night draws to a close, Byleth dances with a multitude of her students, so many her feet feel sore, like after a long battle.

The cool night air glances against her skin, and she huddles close to her cape. After the night she’s had, she wants a break; the goddess tower calls to her as a brief respite from the noise, and so she goes.

When she gets to the top, she’s pleasantly surprised to see Claude standing there. 

He greets her, they talk, they laugh, reminisce. Eventually the night pulls at their skin, telling them it is time to go to sleep. 

“I think Rhea might be disappointed if she catches us out too late. We wouldn’t want her to think we were up to something… unsavory.” Claude winks and Byleth rolls her eyes. 

“Keep dreaming, Claude. If you have an ambition to chase after, then you won’t have much time for any love affairs.”

“Says who?” Claude speaks lightly, but his words carry a weight in their defiance. “Even if the goddess herself refuses my ambitions for a better world, I will make them come true.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Byleth says. She glances up at the moon and stars in the sky, beings that have watched the rise and fall of kingdoms since humanity began. “You have always been fit to lead. Though I know you joke about your many schemes, I can see the foresight you put into your future. And the future of the world around you.”

The quiet of the night surrounds them, a blanket of comfort. That what they say here is important, and safe. Only for the two of them to hear.

Byleth stares into Claude’s eyes, leveling her practiced cool gaze at his uncertain one. “No matter what fate may bring, a crown only fits a few, and you are one with the humble grace of a king.” 

Claude blinks at Byleth. His wariness clears into determination, strong and fierce. “Well, with the backing of a person like you… how could I ever lose?”

The corners of Byleth’s mouth lift, but she quickly shoves them down. She hums in agreement, and slowly turns to leave. It is late, after all. 

Claude’s words stop her in her tracks: “You’ll still come back in five years?”

Byleth huffs, a little breath of a laugh. She doesn’t turn around. “I said I would.”

“So lukewarm!” Claude laughs, and it brings a tingle of warmth to Byleth’s cheeks. 

Then, he pauses, seeming to gather his thoughts. She waits, her back to him. Eventually, he speaks: “If it’s not presumptuous of me, I do have another request.”

“Oh?” She tilts her head in his direction, her heart squeezing for some unknown reason. 

“One day, I hope we can dance again.”

When Byleth shifts to look at him one last time, she glimpses sincerity and something deeper in his eyes. A hunger, not one of greed, but of a desire for a future just outside of reach. 

A promise. One day, they’d see each other again, even after Claude leaves the monastery and Byleth goes… somewhere that isn’t here. 

“Until we dance again...” she says. Her footsteps echo on the concrete as she walks toward the stairs.

As she reaches the archway of the tower, a quiet, ‘until then’, bids her farewell. In the dark shadows of the night, she finally allows a smile to grace her lips. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was super fun to write, and I had a blast with these wonderful people! Shoutout to Ray for organizing this, I adore you. 
> 
> Thanks to Robin for beta-reading!
> 
> twitter: [@majesticdeku](https://twitter.com/majesticdeku)  
> tumblr: [majesticanna](https://majesticanna.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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